My interest in “scandalous” photos is never very high to begin with. When they involve Jerry Jones, who was Internet fodder all week, it falls even lower on the meter.

That’s not because I want to protect him from anything. It’s because seeing Jones surrounded by young “fans” or seeing his son Stephen on the Cowboys’ party bus riding around with young ladies is nothing new to anyone who has been around this team the last 25 years.

Hey, there’s no evidence that anything was really going on in these cases, and there is certainly a suspicion that the photos of Jerry may have been misleading.

All of this has nothing to do with how the Jones family runs the club or why this team is stuck at 8-8. As for NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino being photographed on the party bus with Stephen and company, the league can decide where that falls on the conflict-of-interest front.

The Jones Boys can party all they want, and I actually applaud them for doing it without getting behind the wheel of a car. It’s their indifference (and the NFL’s as well) to Driving Under the Influence arrests — and the almost inevitable return of Josh Brent to this team’s roster — that troubles me greatly.

Brent, the former Cowboys defensive tackle convicted of intoxication manslaughter in the death of teammate Jerry Brown in 2012, met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday. Although Brent has served his 180-day jail sentence, it’s up to the commissioner to determine what punishment the league will exact.

That’s because — in part, thanks to the NFL Players Association — the league takes a much tougher stance on a single positive steroids test than it does for drunk-driving arrests. Think about the idiocy of that.

Pop a steroid once at the wrong time, and it’s an automatic four-game hit. The punishment for DUI convictions tends to be two games. Not coincidentally, that’s also the punishment Baltimore running back Ray Rice received for a case in which he is seen on video dragging his unconscious fiancée (now wife) off an elevator after an altercation.

What a wonderful collective bargaining agreement these two sides have achieved.

Brent’s punishment figures to be much stronger than the standard DUI suspension, given the extreme consequences that were suffered. He was driving somewhere between 110 and 134 mph on State Highway 114, where the speed limit is 45. His teammate died in the crash.

Brent was about 18 months removed from being on probation for a previous DUI conviction at the University of Illinois. In between the crash and the trial here, Brent failed two drug tests that sent him temporarily back to jail and was also accused of tampering with his ankle monitor.

Hey, I don’t care how badly the San Diego Chargers ran through this team’s defense Thursday night, and neither should you. Does anyone really think the answer to the problems of the NFL’s worst defense is Josh Brent?

Jerry Jones has talked about how “contrite” Brent is. Believe that at your own risk with any athlete.

Then there’s always the “Jerry Brown’s mother” card this team likes to play since she has said she hopes Brent will be able to resume his career with the Cowboys.

I’m all for second chances. I needed one myself in 2007, as I have mentioned many times. Is a “second” chance really what we are talking about in this case, given Brent’s list of aberrant behavior?

The NFL’s long history of taking a hard line on all drugs but winking and looking the other way at alcohol-related offenses would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious. Consider that Cleveland wide receiver Josh Gordon will have to win his appeal to avoid missing the entire 2014 season for repeated positive tests for marijuana — a victimless crime — yet Brent almost certainly won’t receive punishment in that range.

(Note: Gordon has many issues and received a DUI himself, but that is not part of his potential suspension.)

The league’s owners and players need to address this enormous punishment disparity — since any DUI carries the risk of harming others, sometimes with awful consequences — in the next CBA, if not sooner.

Meanwhile, the franchise with the party bus and the party pics wants Brent back in the mix. Somehow it seems fitting.

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About Tim Cowlishaw

Tim Cowlishaw has been The Dallas Morning News' lead sports columnist since July 1998. Prior to that he covered the Cowboys for six seasons and the Stars for three as a beat reporter. He also covered the Rangers as a backup beat writer and was the San Jose Mercury News' beat writer on the San Francisco Giants in the late 1980s.

Tim has been appearing regularly on ESPN"s "Around the Horn" since the show made its debut in November 2002. He also worked with ESPN as part of the network's "NASCAR Now" coverage in 2007-08.

Favorite Dallas restaurants: Park, Nick and Sam's, Kenichi.

Worst sports prediction: His first in college ... that Earl Campbell had no shot at the Heisman Trophy.

Best sports memories: Seeing the Dallas Stars hoist the Stanley Cup long after midnight in Buffalo, watching the Dallas Cowboys win the Super Bowl and Texas win the national title in perfect Rose Bowl settings.